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MCCAIN WELL AHEAD OF OBAMA IN IDAHO, RANKING THIRD IN SUPPORT ONLY BEHIND UTAH AND WYOMING McCain leads by a 52%-29% margin “if the election was held today”. Further, a sizable McCain lead remains regardless of region of residence within Idaho, age, gender, and years having lived in Idaho. Even among Democrats, 35% say they would vote for McCain. Idaho’s 23% lead lags only behind Utah (39%) and Wyoming (37%) in McCain support. Greg Smith & Associates will reveal the results of polling work done on Idaho’s U.S. Senate race between Jim Risch (R), Larry LaRocco (D), and Rex Rammell...

Romney to meet with Utah GOP delegates By Lisa Riley Roche Deseret News Published: Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008 12:45 a.m. MDT 0 comments RELATED CONTENT | E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - McCain's choice alters campaign Utah delegates praise Palin ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mitt Romney may not be on the GOP ticket, but Utah delegates to the Republican National Convention will no doubt give him a hero's welcome when he visits them at their Monday morning breakfast meeting. "Next to John McCain and Sarah Palin, right now there is not a hotter name at this convention than Mitt...

WASHINGTON - The music will be rising into a crescendo, the hall glowing with red, blue and white stars, confetti at the waiting, when Utah delegates take the microphone in the nomination of John McCain for the president and cast their ballots for Mitt Romney.

Rep. Chris Cannon -- who lost in a 60%-40% Primary election landslide yesterday -- had survived several previous Primary challenges by fooling enough people into believing that he was not really an amnesty champion. The seven-term incumbent lost to Jason Chaffetz, 41, a former chief of staff for Utah's governor who was running for public office for the first time and who was outspent 7-1. Chaffetz ran as a True Immigration Reformer, favoring deep cuts in legal immigration and vigorous Attrition Through Enforcement measures.

President George W. Bush landed in Park City in Marine One around 5 p.m. this evening, where a small crowd of both supporters and protestors greeted him. The landing by Bush on ball fields adjacent to Park City Middle School drew the attention of local residents, who were gathering throughout the afternoon. What they saw was the landing of the iconic helicopter, as well as four other identical green U.S. Marine Corp. helicopters. They also got a wave from Bush before he climbed into a waiting SUV. The motorcade then quickly left, bound for the second fundraiser at Mitt Romney's...

Rep. Chris Cannon barely escaped with his political life Saturday. Jason Chaffetz, a former chief of staff to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., nearly knocked off the incumbent in the Republican State Convention, but instead will face Cannon in a June 24 primary. "A win is a win," said Chaffetz. "We're going to go out and take it to Cannon right from Day 1." Chaffetz captured 563 Republican delegate votes, or 59 percent of the total. Cannon received votes from 391 delegates, 41 percent of the total. Chaffetz could have captured the nomination outright with 60 percent of the vote -...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - In a show of Republican unity, one-time bitter foes John McCain and Mitt Romney raised money and campaigned together Thursday for a single goal - getting McCain elected president. "We are united. Now our job is to energize our party," the Arizona senator said in an airport hangar, flanked by Romney and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., an early McCain supporter. Both have been mentioned as potential vice presidential picks, and McCain praised each. Romney lauded McCain and promised to do all he can to help, saying: "He is a man who is proven and...

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain will make an invitation-only fundraising stop in Salt Lake City at the Grand America Hotel on Thursday. Former presidential contender Mitt Romney will accompany McCain to the $1,000-a-person event at the Grand America Hotel, a McCain campaign official confirmed today on the condition of anonymity. Romney, who dropped out of the race after poor showings in the primaries, received nearly 90 percent of the Utah GOP vote on Feb. 5, while McCain had just 5 percent. Romney is a member of the LDS Church, like more than 60 percent of the state's residents. While...

Speculation grows on Utah's young leader completing a McCain ticketWASHINGTON - In Utah political circles, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. seemed to be hitching his future on a John McCain presidency with an eye toward a big-time ambassadorship or high-level Cabinet post. Not even the most starry-eyed of the Utah GOP had the audacity to hope for a McCain-Huntsman presidential ticket. But now that McCain is the presumptive nominee, Huntsman is appearing on several short lists as a possible running mate. The Washington Post, The Associated Press and the Atlantic, among others, have floated Huntsman as a possibility for rounding out...

By Thomas BurrThe Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 03/01/2008 03:50:57 PM MST Posted: 3:51 PM- WASHINGTON - Josh Romney, the middle son of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, toyed with the idea of running for Congress in Utah but says now he's definitely not going to jump into the race this year.     Josh Romney, 32, who lives in Millcreek outside of Salt Lake City, says after zipping across the United States for more than a year, including visiting all 99 counties in Iowa, he wants to take a break from politics before plunging into another campaign.     "Just...

Breaking News: Mitt Romney to rejoin GOP race? Josh Romney, one of former Gov. Mitt Romney's five sons, says it's "possible" his father may rejoin the race for the White House, either as a vice presidential candidate or seek to become the Republican Party's standard bearer if the campaign of Sen. John McCain falters. ..... McCain and the lobbyist have unequivocally denied the charges and numerous conservatives, once hesitant to support the more moderate senator, have flocked to his support, at least against the liberal Times. However, subsequent published reports have contradicted some of McCain's denials of meetings with corporate...

Utahns may get the chance to vote for a Romney this November after all — Josh Romney, the son of former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, says he's considering a run for Congress. Of course, there's always the possibility that Mitt Romney may end up on the ballot as a vice presidential candidate — or even, some suggest, the party's nominee if the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., continues to falter. Josh Romney told the Deseret Morning News that after a year of campaigning across country for his father, he's been approached to run as a Republican against 2nd...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race Thursday caught some of his most devoted supporters by surprise and disappointed many who hoped the nation would elect its first Mormon president. Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like 60 percent of the Utah's residents, had raised more than $5.2 million here and won the state's primary on Tuesday with almost 90 percent of the Republican vote. "I'm very disappointed," said state Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem. "Of course I wanted him to go all the way. But what I view him...

Fox News says Mitt Romney and Barack Obama win in Utah.

Of all the possible Super Tuesday outcomes, one is more certain than any other: Mike Huckabee will not carry the state of Utah. In large part it’s because Mitt Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the man credited with saving the Salt Lake City Olympics, is more popular here than in any other state. But the other reason is that overwhelmingly Mormon Utah has taken a profound dislike to the Southern Baptist preacher best known for his nice-guy persona. The wellspring of Huckabee hate is a now-famous Dec. 16 New York Times Magazine...

...Why is Utah Governor Huntsman in the McCain camp? Several years ago I had a lengthy conversation with the late Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church. He and I were driving through the streets of little Oakley, Idaho where both he and George Romney, Mitt's dad had grown up. He spoke fondly of the long, lazy summer days when he and his best boyhood pal, George, would don their worn and cutoff bib overalls and swim for hours in the irrigation canals of Oakley. He mentioned how it was that these...

If affection can be measured by gifts, Utahns love Mitt Romney 13 times more than does the typical American. New financial disclosure forms show Utahns gave a whopping $5.2 million total to Romney's presidential campaign through the end of 2007, including $619,471 in the last quarter. That averages to $1.97 for Romney from every man, woman and child in Utah. No other place comes close to that. In a distant second was Washington, D.C., at 77 cents per resident for Romney. Ironically, Romney has been bad-mouthing Washington, saying the nation needs to replace politicians entrenched there. Most of the D.C....

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Alan Keyes came in third in a presidential straw poll conducted Tuesday by the St. George unit of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. Ron Paul led the balloting, followed by Mitt Romney. Filling out the field were John McCain, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Giuliani. The local conservative organization — which calls itself the Dixie Republican Forum, taking its name from the southern-most region of Utah — invited representatives of all the major GOP candidates to address a luncheon held in the St. George Holiday Inn. Speaking on behalf of Alan Keyes...

More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday at the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City to rally behind U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Paul, an obstetrician from Texas, was impressed with the turnout. "Wow. If they only knew you existed over in Washington, they'd change things over there," he said as he greeted the cheering crowd. Paul spoke fervently of his support of smaller government, including the abolition of agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, and of his support for strictly following the Constitution. He also spoke out against the war in...

When former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson makes his presidential bid official Thursday, his Utah supporters are planning to celebrate at a downtown party. The event is just one of many being organized nationwide by self-described "Fred-Heads" who for months now have been pushing Thompson to get in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. Thompson is scheduled to formally announce he's running via a webcast Thursday on his campaign site, www.imwithfred.com. Following the announcement, he's expected to campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. "We're just getting started, but I think a groundswell is coming,"...